Shortly after that, the young grappler listed as “Allen” became known to the Florida wrestling fans
as Terry Allen; he drew serious attention while teaming up with wrestlers such as Scott McGhee, the
Midnight Rider and Brad Armstrong en route to several NWA Florida Global tag- team title victories.

I met Terry Allen when Gordon Solie brought Terry and his partner, Scott McGhee, over to my children’s
elementary school to speak to their respective classrooms. One thing that stood out in my mind was a
statement Terry made that day. He told the students that he physically developed at a slow rate while
he was attending school. In fact, Terry stated that he couldn’t even do a pushup until he was around
14 years old. After that, there was no stopping Terry as he went on to become a collegiate wrestling
champion.

During the same year as the school visit, Terry underwent a professional name change while wrestling
in the Mid-Atlantic territory. At the suggestion of Andre the Giant, Terry began making appearances
as “Magnum TA” and continued to win over the fans wherever he performed while simultaneously
gaining the attention of NWA promoters and the media.

Columnist Slim Smith described the atmosphere when Terry made his entrance for a match against King
Kong at another Southeastern venue: “Magnum TA ducks between the ring at the Mississippi Coast
Coliseum. As he enters the bright lights of the ring, the crowd roars its approval of yet another hero, a
defender of truth, justice and the American way.”

Magnum TA’s popularity continued to soar and he was more and more in demand. He was on the roster
along with the likes of Jack and Jerry Brisco, Dusty Rhodes, Jimmy Garvin and Mr. Wrestling II when the
wrestlers played a charity softball game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; he was mentioned often
among NWA officials as a likely candidate to carry the NWA heavyweight title belt; then tragedy struck.

Terry Allen was involved in a career ending car accident.

Years later, I saw Terry at a wrestling event; he didn’t look like the same muscular athlete as in his
wrestling days. In fact, he looked very slender and walked with a distinct limp. What had remained the
same, however, was his winning attitude. I admired the fact that he had moved on and was running a
successful construction company at the time. He had a great relationship with his wife and family and
seemed very happy.

Professional wrestling has produced heroes for many of us. Some of those heroes were simply personas
maintained by wrestlers while portraying a character. Terry Allen was one of those in-ring heroes, too.
More importantly, he became a hero outside the ring as well.

More information about the Golden Age of Wrestling is available in “The Solie Chronicles: The Life and
Times of Gordon Solie.”